fuels of the future - Home — Robert M. Kerr Food &...
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fuels of the future By Nurhan Dunford FAPC Oil/Oilseed Chemist [email protected] fuels of the future By Nurhan Dunford FAPC Oil/Oilseed Chemist [email protected] thanol is an alternative fuel derived from biologically renewable resources. It is a good substitute for gasoline in spark-ignition engines. Ethanol can be employed to replace octane enhancers, such as methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, and aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, or oxygenates, such as methyl tertiary butyl ether. In the United States, biofuel production has increased dramatically during the last several years. Production of ethanol from corn has been quickly adapted by the U.S. biofuel industry. Today corn-based ethanol is the main source of fuel ethanol in the United States. This fast expansion of the biofuel industry has put tremendous pressure on agricultural commodities. Currently, food processors and biofuel producers compete in the same market. The ethanol and corn industries are being criticized by interest groups for causing everything from sharply higher food prices for American consumers to social unrest resulting from food shortages in the developing countries. Better management of resources to meet feedstock needs of the biofuel industry can lead to growth of the global economy. Non-edible feedstock, waste bio-material, and biomass that require minimal land use should be fully exploited to sustain the biofuel industry. Bio-ethanol production from lignocellulosic waste materials, such as crop residues, municipal solid wastes, forest products wastes, leaf and yard wastes, municipal sludges, and dairy and cattle manures, have been explored. Mark Wilkins, an assistant professor at the Oklahoma State University department of biosystems and agricultural engineering, recently signed a research agreement with Citranol Energy I LLC, a unit of FPL Group Incorporated of Juno Beach, Florida, which together with its partner Citrus Energy LLC of Boca Raton, Florida, are exploring the potential of citrus peel as a commercial feedstock for ethanol production. “Citrus Energy and FPL have a common vision to take a first small step towards displacing fuel from below ground with fuel from above ground,” said David Stewart, president of Citrus Energy. “This collaboration builds on basic research done at the USDA Citrus Lab in Winter Haven, Florida, including research done by Mark Wilkins.” World citrus production has been significantly increasing since the 1980s. As a result, citrus processing industries, especially in developed countries, have expanded rapidly. It is estimated that orange production will reach 66.4 million metric tons in 2010. This growth represents a 14 percent increase compared to that of 1997–1999 orange production. Florida is the largest citrus growing state in the United States. “The Florida Department of Citrus projects the size of the citrus crop for the next 10 years at around 200 million boxes per year,” Stewart said. A box of oranges weighs 90 pounds and results in about 50 percent juice and 50 percent peel material. The citrus peel material includes a mixture of peel, segment membranes, and seeds rich in pectin, cellulose, and soluble sugars. This material is available in large volumes. “Citrus fruit processors generally dry and pelletize this citrus peel material to produce a cattle feed called citrus pulp pellets,” Wilkins said. “Some small processors cannot afford to invest capital in the equipment needed to produce citrus pulp pellets and must pay haulers to take citrus peel away from their facility and dispose of it in a landfill.” Stewart said, “Utilization of by-product materials like citrus peel to produce liquid transportation fuels, such as ethanol, would reduce dependence on petroleum while turning a historical liability into valuable asset for processors.” In general, the fermentation process that produces ethanol is carried out between 25 and 35°C to maximize ethanol production and prevent heat-inactivation of the yeast cells. Yet, high temperature fermentation has some advantages including energy savings achieved through a reduction in cooling costs and the possible use of continuous ethanol stripping to recover ethanol from fermentation broth. Thermotolerant yeasts in this situation are advantageous because they have faster fermentation rates, minimize the cooling and distillation costs and, thereby, help in lowering the overall fermentation costs. As a Better management of resources to meet feedstock needs of the biofuel industry can lead to growth of the global economy. Non-edible feedstock, waste bio-mate- rial and biomass that require minimal land use should be fully exploited to sustain the biofuel industry. result, ethanol can be made available at a cheaper rate. Wilkins’ research group is evaluating thermotolerant yeast strains and new generation enzymes to more efficiently convert orange peel to ethanol. Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3, a thermotolerant yeast capable of growth and ethanol production at temperatures up to 50°C, is being examined in collaboration with Ibrahim Banat of the University of Ulster for its ethanol production efficiency. The same thermotolerant yeast also is being tested for ethanol production from switch- grass, which has high potential as an ethanol feedstock for Oklahoma. This col- laboration is another example of OSU scientists’ far-reaching expertise in the biofuels research and development field. A box of oranges weighs 90 pounds and results in about 50 percent juice and 50 percent peel material. The citrus peel material includes a mixture of peel, segment mem- branes, and seeds rich in pectin, cellulose, and soluble sugars. This material is available in large volumes. Summer 2008 9 8 fapc.biz
Transcript of fuels of the future - Home — Robert M. Kerr Food &...
Summer 2008 1
E ETHANOL
fuels of the futureBy Nurhan DunfordFAPC Oil/Oilseed [email protected]
fuels of the futureBy Nurhan Dunford
FAPC Oil/Oilseed [email protected]
thanol is an alternative fuel derived from biologically renewable resources. It
is a good substitute for gasoline in spark-ignition engines. Ethanol can be employed to replace octane enhancers, such as methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, and aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, or oxygenates, such as methyl tertiary butyl ether.
In the United States, biofuel production has increased dramatically during the last several years. Production of ethanol from corn has been quickly adapted by the U.S. biofuel industry.
Today corn-based ethanol is the main source of fuel ethanol in the United States. This fast expansion of the biofuel industry has put tremendous pressure on agricultural commodities.
Currently, food processors and biofuel producers compete in the same market. The ethanol and corn industries are being criticized by interest groups for causing everything from sharply higher food prices for American consumers to social unrest resulting from food shortages in the developing countries.
Better management of resources to meet feedstock needs of the biofuel industry can lead to growth of the global economy. Non-edible feedstock, waste bio-material, and biomass that require minimal land use should be fully exploited to sustain the biofuel industry.
Bio-ethanol production from lignocellulosic waste materials, such as crop residues, municipal solid wastes, forest products wastes, leaf and yard wastes, municipal sludges, and dairy and cattle manures, have been explored.
Mark Wilkins, an assistant professor at the Oklahoma State University department of biosystems and agricultural engineering, recently signed a research agreement with Citranol Energy I LLC, a unit of FPL Group Incorporated of Juno Beach, Florida, which together with its partner Citrus Energy LLC of Boca Raton,
Florida, are exploring the potential of citrus peel as a commercial feedstock for ethanol production.
“Citrus Energy and FPL have a common vision to take a first small step towards displacing fuel from below ground with fuel from above ground,” said David Stewart, president of Citrus Energy. “This collaboration builds on basic research done at the USDA Citrus Lab in Winter Haven, Florida, including research done by Mark Wilkins.”
World citrus production has been significantly increasing since the 1980s. As a result, citrus processing industries, especially in developed countries, have expanded rapidly.
It is estimated that orange production will reach 66.4 million metric tons in 2010. This growth represents a 14 percent increase compared to that of 1997–1999 orange production. Florida is the largest citrus growing state in the United States.
“The Florida Department of Citrus projects the size of the citrus crop for the next 10 years at around 200 million boxes per year,” Stewart said.
A box of oranges weighs 90 pounds and results in about 50 percent juice and 50 percent peel material.
The citrus peel material includes a mixture of peel, segment membranes, and seeds rich in pectin, cellulose, and soluble sugars. This material is available in large volumes.
“Citrus fruit processors generally dry and pelletize this citrus peel material to produce a cattle feed called citrus pulp pellets,” Wilkins said. “Some small processors cannot afford to invest capital in the equipment needed to produce citrus pulp pellets and must pay haulers to take citrus peel away from their facility and dispose of it in a landfill.”
Stewart said, “Utilization of by-product materials like citrus peel to produce liquid transportation fuels, such as ethanol, would reduce dependence on petroleum while turning a historical liability into valuable asset for processors.”
In general, the fermentation process that produces ethanol is carried out between 25 and 35°C to maximize ethanol production and prevent heat-inactivation of the yeast cells.
Yet, high temperature fermentation has some advantages including energy savings achieved through a reduction in cooling costs and the possible use of continuous ethanol stripping to recover ethanol from fermentation broth.
Thermotolerant yeasts in this situation are advantageous because they have faster fermentation rates, minimize the cooling and distillation costs and, thereby, help in lowering the overall fermentation costs. As a
Better management of resources to meet feedstock needs of the biofuel industry can lead to growth of the global economy. Non-edible feedstock, waste bio-mate-rial and biomass that require minimal land use should be fully exploited to sustain the biofuel industry.
result, ethanol can be made available at a cheaper rate.
Wilkins’ research group is evaluating thermotolerant yeast strains and new generation enzymes to more efficiently convert orange peel to ethanol.
Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3, a thermotolerant yeast capable of growth and ethanol production at temperatures up to 50°C, is being examined in collaboration with Ibrahim Banat of the University of Ulster for its ethanol production efficiency.
The same thermotolerant yeast also is being tested for ethanol production from switch-grass, which has high potential as an ethanol feedstock for Oklahoma.
This col-laboration is another example of OSU scientists’ far-reaching expertise in the biofuels research and development field.
A box of oranges weighs 90 pounds and results in about 50 percent juice and 50 percent peel material. The citrus peel material includes a mixture of peel, segment mem-branes, and seeds rich in pectin, cellulose, and soluble sugars. This material is available in large volumes.
Summer 2008 98 fapc.biz
